Those are the letters one of the top young Scrabble players in the U.S. is probably spelling out on his board at home after being kicked out of a national championship in Florida for cheating.

People place letters on a Scrabble board during the Edmond Senior Center Scrabble group, Wednesday, July 13, 2005. By Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman

According to The Associated Press, the male player was kicked out in round 24 of the 28-round event after another player at a nearby table noticed the man conceal a pair of blank tiles, which can be used as wild letters in the game.

John Williams, executive director of the U.S. National Scrabble Association, said the incident was the first issue of cheating at a national tournament.

"It does happen no matter what. People will try to do this," Williams said. “It's the first time it's happened in a venue this big though. It's unfortunate. The Scrabble world is abuzz. The Internet is abuzz.”

It should probably also be noted that the top prize in the tournament was $10,000.

MORE FROM NEWSOK

by Tiffany Gibson

News Online Editor

Tiffany Gibson has worked for the Oklahoman since August 2011 and is a member of the digital news team.
In addition to writing and web editing, she also creates multimedia features for the website and maintains social media accounts. A Tennessee...